Soul of the Warrior
by Fan of Fanfics
Summary: His home lost forever, Naruto finds solace in dueling, appealing to his warrior's spirit. But he's soon to learn that the game, like life, is not to be taken lightly.


Hey guys. Been promising this one for a while, I just hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Yugioh (aside from the custom shinobi cards, which are indeed my creation)

_"__Shit" _thought Kakashi, leaping to avoid a random attack from his student. For many readers, they would believe it to be an attack from Sasuke, or perhaps Kakashi was trainingwith his team. Both ideas are incredibly…wrong. Kakashi was fighting Naruto not for training, but for survival. The young boy had tapped into too much of the Kyuubi's chakra, and was becoming corrupted by it, becoming little more than an animal. He was attacking anything and everything. Kakashi was running out of options. Although Naruto had only tapped into a tiny bit of Kyuubi's power, he was slowly drawing on more and more, losing more of his conscious thought the more power he drew.

He was stuck with little to no options. Naruto's power was steadily growing with every draw from Kyuubi, and he was becoming even wilder. He could attempt to fight, but at the rate Naruto was drawing on the demon Youki, his attacks would more than likely prove ineffective. The way he saw it, he only had two options left. Let Naruto's rage subside, or use the special ability granted him by his Mangekyo Sharingan. Kamui, a technique able to send anything he focused on to another dimension. Well, at least that's what he assumed. Nobody knew exactly where his Kamui sent the objects.

Naruto, three tails of youki behind him, caught sight once again of his sensei, and let out a roar as he charged. Kakashi stood his ground, waiting for the opportune moment. As Naruto got closer and closer, Kakashi began having second thoughts. He didn't know what waited on the other side of Kamui. However, as he looked to Naruto, his face beneath his mask hardened with resolve and he lifted his forehead protector off his Sharingan, which shifted into its Mangekyo form. Naruto brought up his now clawed hand to slash at his teacher, but at the last moment, Kakashi leapt into the air.

"I am sorry it has come to this Naruto" said Kakashi, before the air around the demon-powered boy began to swirl and warp. Any onlooker would have seen the air around him distort, with the young shinobi seemingly being pulled toward the focal point of the distortion. And in a moment more, he had vanished. Landing, Kakashi looked at the spot his student disappeared, moving his forehead protector back into place. Dropping to his knees, Kakashi actually pulled down his mask. He couldn't breathe. Many times he had killed, but he never thought things would ever come to this. It was nerve wracking to know he may have potentially doomed his blonde-haired student to his own demise. Hoping beyond hope, he clapped his hands and prayed to whatever God would listen, praying that his student would be alright on the other side. Grabbing a Kunai, he quickly stabbed into the ground, carving out the earth. A small tear ran down out of his one visible eye, before he heard others approaching and quickly replaced his mask, steeling himself, and standing. As he walked away, his work had become visible. At the spot Naruto had vanished, only two symbols remained. The symbol for the Leaf village, carved into the ground, and within that, the kanji for the word 'Hokage.' Now he had to go explain to the current Hokage that her favorite young shinobi was lost forever.

With a start, Naruto looked around. His head was still pounding from the after-effects of using the Kyuubi's power. Loud noises caused him to clap his hands over his ears. Bright, everything was so bright. He felt something zip by at high speeds, and turned to look where it came from. He saw a large metal object coming at him, but his body wasn't able to respond as fast as his mind. The object slowed down, but didn't stop in time and slammed into the blonde, knocking him over, causing him to slam the back of his head into the ground, knocking him unconscious. The last things that registered in his vision were two men.

One wore a black suit, and seemed to be fairly large. The other was a twig in comparison. He couldn't make out much of his face, as it was concealed by the man's flowing hair, but he noticed the man was dressed almost entirely in red. And all was black.

The man in the red suit walked quickly through the halls of the Hospital. His silvery white hair flowed slightly as he navigated through the maze of corridors toward his destination, which his men had already taken the liberty of securing.

"Has the boy woken yet?" he asked, his black-suited bodyguard, who merely shook his head, his face emotionless.

"No sir," he replied. "But the doctors have stated he's stable. All that remains is the question of when he will wake up." Without even requesting to enter, the man, Pegasus, moved towards the door to the hospital room, which his guards opened without a word. He took in the scene of the young man who his driver had hit, laying unconscious in the hospital bed. There was something...different about him. A strange...energy. Pegasus couldn't describe it. The boy had an aura about him so strong, it was like he could see it without the aid of his lost Millennium Eye. Reaching out toward him, he gripped the hand of the boy his car had essentially run over.

His eyes suddenly widened, and he yanked his hand away as though it were on fire. Stumbling backward, Pegasus, nearly tripped and fell, but was caught by his bodyguard, who watched the whole exchange. Pushing away, Pegasus clutched the empty socket as he stumbled into a run. He nearly knocked over a doctor and two nurses as he made his way back outside. He nearly fell into the open door of his car, the driver holding it open, looking concerned.

"Sir, are you alright?" he asked, and nearly cringed at the look he got from his employer. Never before had the man worn such a deadly gaze.

"Drive," the man growled out, and his chauffeur snapped to it. Pegasus almost never got so openly shaken. Even in those rare times he was angry, he never lost his composure, his suave, perfect sense of self-control. He made sure to get to Pegasus' penthouse as quickly as possible, the silver-haired man never saying a word, merely locking himself within his bedroom.

It would be three days before Pegasus was seen, even by those under his employ. He just lay in bed, a far-away look in his eyes. He wouldn't eat, and when he slept, he would be shaken with fits of nightmares...Three days this went on. And finally, on the fourth day, he asked for one thing, and only one thing. His supplies.

And so, the man took to his study instead, slaving over his desk, pens, paper, art utensils...everything he would need to do what he did best. Create. He ate sparingly, munching on an apple here or there. At this point, he was running on pure adrenaline, and a hint of what others would call madness. The only contact with the outside world he had was to keep tabs on the blonde boy, who still, regardless of his miraculous recovery, had yet to wake up for some reason.

To Pegasus, the making of the cards was therapeutic. After he had touched Naruto, something happened. He had seen peoples' thoughts before, read their minds, but this was different. Some lingering power within him from his now absent Millennium Item. He was seeing things differently. Seeing what Naruto had seen, knowing what he knew, living his life through fragments of memory and it was maddening. He was almost losing himself to the memories that weren't his. The only things keeping him going were his mental prowess, and the creation of the cards. With each one, some of the memories seemed to leave him. He had to make these cards. He needed to. It was the only way to retain his sanity.

It had been a week since the accident, and Pegasus sent his card designs off to the printer to be processed, created, and registered. He made sure they were top priority, so they would be done within the hour. All that needed done now was to collect them. Stepping out of his study, his workers already had a fresh suit waiting for him. He found himself needing it. He had been wearing the same clothing for the past week, and he was looking quite disheveled. It was time to hit the shower.

Blues eyes opened with a start as Naruto took a deep, sharp breath, before leaping out of the hospital bed, scaring the nurse in the room half to death. His mind on autopilot, he ran for the window and leapt through, the glass shattering as the nurse ran from the room to get a doctor. The three-story drop didn't even phase Naruto as he landed on his feet, crouching low. Pushing off, he began running at top speed, his mind both racing and unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

He ended up running into the streets, and he was startled by the blaring horn of a car. Remembering what had happened last time, Naruto jumped as high as he could as the vehicle screeched to a halt beneath him. Landing on the hood, banging it up pretty badly, the blonde ninja jumped across to a new building, and used Chakra to stick to the walls. Reaching the top, Naruto was able to leap from building to building, climbing higher and higher above the people below. Coming to a stop, Naruto looked around, both amazed and horrified at the sight. Amazed at the expanse of concrete buildings, steel and glass everywhere, and horrified at the fact that this was not his home. He had no idea where he was.

His ear twitched slightly as he picked up a strange sound. Turning, the shinobi fell back in shock at the strange thing descending on the roof. With some sort of whirling blade at the top, the large metal object gracefully touched down and a man wearing a rather expensive-looking red suit stepped out. He looked somewhat familiar, but Naruto couldn't place him.

"I can honestly say, I know how you must feel," the man said. "You've just had your world ripped apart and taken away, Naruto."

"How do you know me?" Naruto asked, and the man just gave a friendly smile, as though sensing the ninja's lack of trust.

"I'll explain everything," Pegasus replied. "All I ask is that you come with me and give me the chance _to_ explain what I know." Naruto looked unsure for a moment. The man didn't seem to hold any sort of ill will, but Naruto was a ninja. He knew the intricate arts of concealing one's emotions from the world. And so he had two choices. He could place his trust in a man who he had never met, never even heard of, or he could turn tail and run. But if he did attempt to flee, there was no guarantee that he would get away, or if he did, that they wouldn't come looking for him. He didn't like it, but going with the man was his best option.

As the blonde took a step forward, Pegasus stepped aside to allow Naruto to enter his private helicopter first, before entering himself, giving his pilot the order to take off. "Now then," he said as he sat across from the shinobi. "I can understand your apprehension. However, I promise that this explanation, if nothing else, will be enlightening."

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded. "Where is this place, and how do you know me?" Pegasus sighed.

"You've always been a person to get straight to the point, my Boy," he said. "So I'll give you the shortened version. This is not your world. Kakashi sent you here to prevent you losing control of the Kyuubi's power. I hope that eventually you can learn to live here among us, but until then, I offer you my services getting...acclimated. My name is Pegasus J. Crawford, President of the company Industrial Illusions. Not that that means much to you, of course, as you have no idea what that is."

Naruto's eyes were wide as he turned to look out the window at the great city below. He was stunned speechless, both from the reality of the situation, and the fact that this man seemed to have more intimate knowledge of the blonde than anyone he had ever met. "How?" he asked. "How is this possible? How do you know all this? These things about me?" Pegasus closed his one visible eye, as the other was hidden behind his long hair.

"I'm afraid that's where both of our situations become more complicated," he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The past few days that you've spent unconscious, I've been effectively reliving your life through your memories."

"I don't understand," Naruto said. "You aren't making any sense!"

"What I am saying," Pegasus replied, holding up his hand to gesture to the blonde that he should remain silent, "is that somehow, all your memories were given to me, and I have spent the last week agonizing over them, living your life as you had, seeing all your friends, feeling every hit taken, and I know exactly how you feel about all this." Naruto looked Pegasus in the eye for a moment, before his eyes once more widened.

"You're serious?" he said, his voice cracking a bit. He could tell that Pegasus wasn't lying.

"I'm afraid I am," the man replied. "But as I said, I will help you get used to living here. As of yet, there is no way I can imagine for how to send you home." Naruto's face fell, and his voice took on a deadened tone.

"I'm stuck here..." he said, slumping in his seat. "I'm never gonna see my friends again." Pegasus pulled out a briefcase, punching in a security code.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say 'never," he announced, popping the case. "Ninja-boy, I feel it's time to teach you about Duel Monsters." As he pulled the case open and turned it towards Naruto, the blonde had to stifle a gasp.

Timeskip

Two weeks, Naruto had been pent up in Pegasus' penthouse suite, learning the inns and outs of the card game the rather eccentric man had created. Once it was decided he was ready, Pegasus had gifted the boy with the latest device among duelists. The newest in a line of what Pegasus had referred to as a 'Duel Disk,' created by the Kaiba corporation. With Battle City still hyped up from what was possibly the biggest duel tournament the world had ever seen, once couldn't walk two blocks without seeing duelists going at each other, for money, cards, or what Naruto learned of, Duel Points.

The duel point system worked quite simply. Duel Disks worked as something of a digital scoring system, monitoring every duel and judging the duelist based on how well they did overall, as well as keeping track of certain moves, such as how many traps were activated, how many spells, and so on. If the duel was lost, the duelist would still get a set amount of points, around 20 or 30. If they won, than based on their performance, they would get a much higher payoff, ranging anywhere from 200 up. The duel disk would digitally store these duel points, and they could be used to exchange for currency, or even _as_ currency, as several duelist-friendly locations began accepting duel points as forms of payment.

Alternatively, rather than trying to earn Duel Points, the system allowed wagers of duel points as well, which is what made it even more popular, especially among those duelists who felt that a friendly game wasn't enough, and there needed to be some stakes. Pegasus had already registered the duel disk and prepaid for 3000 DP. Now the blonde was out walking around town, thinking about everything. Thinking about how his life had been ripped from him, and how he had no chance to get it back. He cast a sad glance at the duel disk on his arm and the deck within the holster at his hip.

As if Pegasus hadn't already done enough for the shinobi, he had also gotten a full wardrobe tailor made for him. Naruto had begun to protest, but Pegasus had cut him off mid-sentence, claiming that after all he'd been through, he should at least be made comfortable to ease the transition a bit. He currently wore a brand new black coat, the flames licking the bottom seeming almost real. Beneath that, he wore a black shirt, the Konoha symbol emblazoned in orange over his heart, and black cargo pants, his forehead-protector now worn as a belt.

Not looking where he was going, he accidentally ran into another walker, knocking the both of them over. "Hey, watch it!" shouted the other boy.

"Sorry," replied Naruto, but was cut off by the teenager he had collided with.

"I challenge you to a duel," he announced, making Naruto quirk an eyebrow.

"Just like that?" he asked, confused. "All we did was run into each other. It's not like I insulted your family's honor or anything like that." The other boy growled.

"You scared?" he asked, and Naruto scowled.

"Of nothing," he replied, rather forcefully, activating his duel disk and setting his deck in place. "How about you tell me the name of the kid I'm about to beat down?"

"The name is Hiroki," he replied. "And this 'kid' is gonna give you one major ass-whipping. What do you say to a 500 point wager?" Naruto smirked.

"Done," he replied. "As the challenger, you can start." The other boy nodded, and they both drew their opening hands. "Let's Duel," they said in unison, and Hiroki drew his first card. He frowned, but set a monster and placed a card face down in his spell/trap zone.

"You're move," he said, and Naruto nodded, drawing his own card. He smiled as he summoned his first monster.

"I summon Ninja Puppet Master in Attack Mode," he announced. Naruto smiled brighter when the card generated its holographic image, that of Kankuro, the Suna puppeteer brandishing his favorite puppets With 1800 attack and 2000 defense, he was a very nice level 4 monster to have. "As long as he's on the field, whenever either of us normal summon or set a monster, I gain 500 life points." Hiroki seemed confused.

"What the hell? I've never heard of this card!" he shouted.

"Nobody has," Naruto replied. "Part of a brand new line of cards, and I'm the first to test them. In a weird way, so are you."

"Whatever," snorted Hiroki. "I'll show you just how worthless your 'new cards' are." Naruto just sighed and shook his head, throwing two cards face-down in the backfield before he ended his turn.

**Current Duel Status**

**Hiroki: 8000 LP**  
**Monsters: 1 face-down**  
**Spells/Traps: 1 face-down**  
**Cards in Hand: 4**

**Naruto: 8000 LP**  
**Monsters: Ninja Puppet Master (1800 ATK/2000 DEF)**  
**Spells/Traps: 2 face-down**  
**Cards in Hand: 3**

Hiroki drew his card and smirked. "I hope you weren't too fond of your Puppet Master," he announced. "I sacrifice my face-down monster to summon Airknight Parshath (Lvl 5, 1900 ATK/1400 DEF)." Hiroki smiled. "Say Goodbye. Destroy his monster!"

"Bad move," said Naruto, calmly, shaking his head and smiling. "I activate my trap. 'Protect What Is Precious." As the card flipped up on the field, Hiroki took a look at the image of thee figures, one of which standing between the two others, taking, based on the blood, a heavy blow. "When you go to attack one of my monsters, I can special summon any monster from my hand. And the best part...you have to attack the new monster."

"What?!" shouted Hiroki in disbelief.

"I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I decided to end this quickly instead," continued Naruto, pulling a card from his hand and placing it on the field. "Meet the Slug Sannin (Lvl 9, 3200 ATK/ 2500 DEF)" The holographic genereators did their job, projecting a flawless image of Tsunade, down to the last detail. Pegasus wasn't kidding about how powerful his memories were. Airknight Parshath turned toward Slug Sannin and leapt forward, swinging its mighty sword...which was promptly caught by the representation of the Fifth Hokage, who reared back her free fist and sent a punch straight into the attacking monster's face. The punch seemed to cause Airknight Parshath's face to implode on itself, before the holographic image exploded into hundreds of light fragments which promptly disintegrated.

Hiroki cried out in shock as he took 1300 points of damage. Slightly shaken, he placed two face-downs into the backfield and ended his turn. Naruto drew a new card and scowled, before thinking a bit and smiling Laying down a new monster, he chuckled at the image that popped up of Konohamaru...at least as he looked at about 7 or 8. "I summon my Ninja Academy Student (Lvl 2, 500 ATK/1000 DEF) in attack position, increasing my life points by 500, and I also play the spell 'Legendary Three.' If I control one of the Sannin Monsters, I can Special Summon another from my hand. Meet the Snake Sannin (Lvl 9, 3000 ATK/2800 DEF)." Naruto growled a bit as the hologram system generated a representation of Orochimaru now. "You have 6700 Life points left, and I can deal you 8500 points of damage this turn alone. You were saying something about an 'ass-whipping?"

Hiroki was visibly sweating now as a crowd had gathered, a few looking in awe at the blonde who had such high-level monsters, and had gotten them out so easily. "Snake Sannin, Attack Directly," said Naruto, only to have his opponent activate a trap. Magic Cylinder.

"How about a taste of your own medicine?" said Hiroki, but was shocked when Naruto's Life Points only dropped by 500, while Hiroki's trap card was destroyed.

"Did I mention my monster's ability?" asked Naruto, feigning innocence. "At the cost of 500 life points, I can negate the activation of trap cards, and destroy them. Looks like you're out of luck, and out of 500 Duel Points. Snake Sannin, finish it." The Orochimaru hologram dashed at Hiroki, opening his mouth to allow a snake to slither out and reveal a sword, which slashed the boy, brining him to his knees as he took the damage.

"Slug Sannin, Direct Attack." The Tsunade Hologram seemed to saunter over to Hiroki, before holding out her hand. Hiroki cringed, but felt nothing. When he opened his eyes however, he was met with the sight of the blonde-haired monster ready to flick him. When she did, it was almost as painful as the sword slash. With his life points dwindling at 500, he was crouched on his knees.

"And my Ninja Academy Student will finish it." The child monster smirked almost evilly, running up to Hiroki and outright smacking him in his face, relieving him of his final life points and Naruto's monsters disappeared, the crowd instantly erupting in chatter. Checking his duel disk, he saw that the 500 points had been digitally added to his account.

"Piece of advice," he said, the fire seeming to leave his eyes and his voice taking on an even, almost dead tone. "Next time, make me have to try." This caused the crowd to murmur as Naruto walked past his opponent, still on the ground in shock at how quickly and how badly he had lost, continuing on his way.

Chapter end

Hey y'all. Was somewhat inspired by The King of Games by EroSlackerMicha, but rather than go the route of 'fox' cards, I figure, why not base the cards on Naruto's life instead? I haven't created all my cards yet, but you can take a peak at them on my Deviantart, the link to which is on the top of my profile. I hope you all enjoy. It's been a while since I watched anything Yugioh, so you'll have to bear with me on this.

Peace to All My Fans

Fan of Fanfics


End file.
